Eureka City Council approves craft distillery amendment

The Eureka City Council tonight voted unanimously after holding a public hearing to approve an ordinance amending the city's municipal code to expand the areas craft distilleries are able to operate.

No members of the public commented, but Councilwoman Marian Brady asked about how strong odors might be.

Senior planner Kristen Goetz said she did some research, and found that distilleries smell very similar to breweries.

"Most distilleries have a unique smell to them, similar to a bakery because of the grains and the yeast that they're using," Goetz said. "It's not usually overpowering to folks, and some folks even consider it to be a pleasant smell. It's not acrid or harsh as might be expected in heavy industrial manufacturing processes."

Under the city's current municipal code, distilleries and breweries are authorized in general industrial zone districts and can be conditionally permitted in limited industrial zones, according to staff. Local businessman Frank Moore asked the council to allow craft distilleries, which are smaller than national distilleries, in the general industrial and limited industrial zones without needing any use permits.

A craft distillery produces no more than 100,000 proof gallons per year using a pot still that is not more than 1,321 gallons, according to a definition Moore provided the city.

According to staff, "the text amendment would clearly be consistent with the purpose and objectives of the zoning regulations to protect the public health, safety, peace, comfort, convenience, prosperity, and general welfare."

The idea to amend the ordinance stems from an application the city received in 2012 from Lost Coast Brewery, asking for a text amendment to add a craft brewery to the zoning code in order to move forward with an expansion project. The brewery is expanding to a 600,000-barrel-per-year brewery on a 9.3-acre parcel of pastureland located east of South Broadway between Sunset Road and Ocean View Cemetery. The business hopes to start producing beer at the new facility in August.

During Tuesday's meeting, the council also voted unanimously to permit the city attorney to hire outside counsel on five contracts for fiscal year 2014-2015.

The firm Burke, Williams & Sorensen will be contracted for a case against landlord Floyd Squires for $50,000; Silver and Wright for $50,000 to handle receivership actions; and Mitchell, Brisso for criminal matters with a monthly fee cap. The firm Goldfarb & Lipman will be hired for the redevelopment agency dissolution and housing for $20,000, and to handle finance department litigation for $10,000.